This is one of my favorite issues of House of Secrets that I treasure to this day. It begins with a framing sequence by Gerry Conway and Bill Draut. Abel receives a large package on his doorstep. The package contains a computer which talks. Abel and the computer exchange stories. After the stories are told, Abel shuts down the computer.
In "The Distant Dome" by Steve Skeates and George Tuska, young Thomm tells his girlfriend Kathhy that they must leave their domed city to find food in the distant dome they see. Kathhy reminds Thomm that they cannot go outside the dome, for the monster lives out there. Thomm says he does not believe in the monster, but Kathhy takes him to her grandma, the eldest in the city, and she says that although she has never seen the monster, her parents did. She explains how the world was once a beautiful place and the people did many great things like flying to the moon and visiting nearby stars, but that once the monster came, the people had to protect themselves with domes. Over time, the communications between domes failed, but no one would go out to try and fix the problem, their fear of the monster being too great.
After the visit with grandmother, Thomm still thinks the only way to keep everyone alive is to brave the red sands between the domes and find help. That night they sneak out of the domed city. Thomm brings a sword just in case, but they find no monster and they make it to the next dome only to find it filled with red sand and void of people. Kathhy wants to go back home, but Thomm says they must push on to the next dome he can see in the distance. On their way they pass a sign, "Danger: High Pollution Area" and Thomm remarks that Pollution was the name of the monster. As they reach the next dome Kathhy wonders what they will do if it too is empty, and Thomm replies that they will continue on to the next dome and the next and the next. We are left to wonder if there is anyone else left alive on the polluted Earth.
Next is "The Symbionts" by Marv Wolfman, Rich Buckler, and Neal Adams. Lawrence Herndon has spent the past ten years alone on a prison planet, looked after by his computer, Laura. When his sentence is up the computer tells him it loves him and doesn't want to let him go. Lawrence says she is just a machine and he is leaving. When the men arrive to bring him home, Laura shoots at them and tells Lawrence she will never let him leave her. Lawrence says that he will never stay and will kill himself if she does not let him go. Laura says she realizes what she must do. When the shooting abruptly stops, the two men enter the compound in search of Lawrence, but he is nowhere to be found. The men who have come to pick him up have brought a female prisoner to leave behind. After they do so, the computer welcomes her to her home for the next ten years, saying, "You may call me Larry." This story was reprinted in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #17 (1982).
This is Rich Buckler's first pencils for DC, his only previous professional work having been for Warren. Rich was one of the first young artists that Neal Adams helped in their first DC story. During his career, Rich worked for 24 different publishers, usually as a penciler, but sometimes as also a writer. At DC he started on the horror books but soon gravitated to the back-up strips: Robin, World of Krypton, and The Rose and the Thorn. By 1972 he had moved on to Marvel where he drew the Avengers, Man-Thing, and Ka-Zar. In 1973 he drew the first three issues of The Black Panther story, "The Panther's Rage," which became the backbone of the Black Panther movie, and in 1974 he took over the artistic reins of The Fantastic Four and Morbius, the Living Vampire. Also in 1974 he took over the pencils of Thor and in Astonishing Tales #25 debuted his creation, Deathlok, the Demolisher. He would occasionally sneak in a back-up story for DC and also worked for Atlas, where he created the Demon-Hunter.
In 1976 he moved back to DC where he drew Jonah Hex, Captain Comet, Green Lantern, Justice League of America, Batman, Star Hunters, The Flash, and many others. Buckler collaborated with Gerry Conway on a "Superman vs. Shazam!" story published in All-New Collectors' Edition #C-58 (April 1978). He drew the newspaper comic strip The Incredible Hulk for approximately six months in 1979. Buckler and Roy Thomas created the World War II superhero team the All-Star Squadron in a special insert in Justice League of America #193 (Aug. 1981) which led to the team's own title the following month.
Buckler worked for Archie Comics in 1983 and 1984, when that publisher briefly revived its Red Circle Comics superhero line, and he recruited Cary Burkett to write the Mighty Crusaders title. In 1985, Buckler returned to Marvel and briefly drew The Spectacular Spider-Man with writer Peter David.
He was the author of three books on comic book artistry: How to Become a Comic Book Artist and How to Draw Superheroes (Solson Publications) in 1986, and How to Draw Dynamic Comic Books (Vanguard Publications) in 2007. Buckler died May 19, 2017, after a long battle with cancer.
We end with "Jedediah" by Mike Friedrich and Gray Morrow. A prophet of God feels the call to preach on a planet that has no fear of death, but when he arrives he is told no one will listen to him since they discovered a substance they call Char-ite which they mine. The prophet wishes to see the mines and is warned they are dangerous, but he disregards the warning. When he enters the mine, a blast is set off and he is killed but finds himself conversing with one of the locals. The local tells him that he breathed in some of the dust which made him like they are, all dead. The prophet realizes that he is on a planet of ghosts.
The entire issue was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Secrets Vol. 1 TPB (2008).
Edited by Dick Giordano.
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